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miss_moose

Avoiding the MONSTER Cucumber!?

:) Hi everyone, so I'm planting cukes this year again. Last year I noticed my plants weren't producing a whole lot. It wasn't until I was pulling up some of my dead garden in the late fall that I found some really... Really over grown cucumbers. In total, I probably found 5 and they were all over a foot long and as thick as my forearm. I would have harvested them, had I seen them but they buried themselves behind the plant, somewhat in the soil and just grew all summer.

This seems like maybe a reason my cucumbers weren't flowering... they flower to produce seeds, by why when it's already produce a heavy load of mature seeds in a giant hidden cucumber?

Is there any way to avoid this? Is growing potted cucumbers even possible? Any success with potted cucumber plants? Thanks!

Comments (19)

  • 11 years ago

    Are you looking for slicing type? I have grown patio snacker from Territorial and it was decent. I have also grown lemon cukes in an Earthbox, and they were quite happy. One vine was up the 5' trellis sticks I put in behind the pot, then about another 10' along the top.

  • 11 years ago

    I don't grow cucumbers but I do grow Zucchini. For many years now I have always grown a yellow variety precisely so I don't miss any when picking. So - the question is are there any yellow cucumber varieties?

  • 11 years ago

    There's a nearly leafless cuke that makes it harder for the little buggers to hide.


    There's a few "blonde" cukes, white in color, but know your area...these things tend to be highly susceptible to the mildews.


    Trellis them is my best answer. Vocab lessons in the garden...thigmotropism.

  • 11 years ago

    Flora-- ever seen a lemon cucumber? They do yellow when mature--round and best before they are fully yellow. They are a little smaller than a fist. This year, we're also growing a little white cuke from Johnny's called salt and pepper. The urban farm our community garden patch is at had them last year, and we loved them.

  • 11 years ago

    You have to search for cukes as they love to hide... growing them up on trellis helps tremendously and helps them grow straight too.


  • 11 years ago

    Mine grow up my garden fence but even so there's always a few I don't find until they've gotten way too big to eat. Still, you have to search those out and pull them or the vine could stop producing.


  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Boothby's Blonde (a short slicer), Miniature White (pickling), and Ellen's Family White (pickling) are a few of the white cukes I can think of off the top of my head (I've only grown the last two). Arkansas Little Leaf may be the "nearly leafless" variety waynedanielson is referring to.

    Rodney

  • 11 years ago

    Thanks for all your comments, what about planting cucumbers upside-down? Anyone know of doing this or any potential issues with this, or advantages?

  • 11 years ago

    I would be afraid of growing them upside down because of the potential weight of the hidden cukes. Imagine a 3-5 pounder ripping your entire plant from it's hanging pot? I've got to say that a trellis is the best way to avoid this issue.

    I use an A-frame type trellis with a height of about 10 ft. I'm tall (6'2") so grabbing the danglers is no issue for me, and I've found that the air circulation helps reduce mildew issues. The only place the cukes can hide on my trellis is right at the ground.

  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Anything planted "upsidedown" is just a novelty and IMO only useful if you can't plant in the ground for some reason. Not only does the wind dry out the container but, esp. in the case of cucumbers, will need some place for the many vines (10ft or more).

    What many don't think about is how high can you reach to water this novelty everyday? Everyday meaning no vacation or long weekends even or the novelty will be dead.

    When planted in the ground the moisture and nutrients are much more stable. Any container flushes nutrients right out the bottom each time they are watered from the top.

    With tomatoes unstable moisture leads to blossom end rot, so daily watering is a must but from the bottom would be even better.

  • 11 years ago

    Sorry, I have no advice, but I'm LOL'ing because that happened to me a few years ago. Now I search HARD.

  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    I grow Diva cucumbers on a trellis in a 25-gallon pot and they seem to do very well. Six plants per pot produce way more than my small family can eat, and we love cucumbers. I give a lot away. I've learned to harvest them small -- maybe 4-6 inches -- and they seem to be more productive that way. They are especially sweet and tender with few seeds at that stage.

  • 11 years ago

    We did real well with cucumbers last year. Used the trellis netting from Johnnies seeds and 3/4 conduit for the supports. Vertical growing seems to be the way to go with cukes.

  • 11 years ago

    On planting upside down, I really didn't think about rinsing the nutrients out of the bottom with each water. I guess I'll plant them vertically. Still deciding which trellis system is best for me, and I'll keep an eye out for the monsters!

  • 11 years ago

    BTW, the cuke with the small leaves is 'Little Leaf'; it's downy mildew resistant and also quite resistant to the wilt carried by the cuke beetle. It's a pickler and great for eating too.

  • 11 years ago

    One strategy I use to find peas, squash, etc grown on a trellis is to gently shake the trellis. The fruit moves differently from the leaves, making them easier to spot, even when mostly hidden by leaves.

  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    I grow cukes up by tying a string (using jute twine) to the seedlings stem and running the string up to a crossbeam I have screwed to my bed frames. This holds even during the hurricane winds CT has at the end of the growing season when plants are loaded with their fruits.

    It works so well I also tie up any other vines as well as tomatoes which can be heavy during Aug. & Sep. and works much better than those useless tomato cages.

    I do use those cages for peppers and eggplants.

    While any string or wire will work jute twine is compostable yet holds for the the growing season. Even if you don't compost the fall cleanup plants it makes cleanup easier since the plants can be quite twisted around the string. I would not use something you think can be re-used each year.

  • 11 years ago

    I actually use those trifold tomato cages to trellis my container cucumbers. This one works perfectly in a large container for four to six plants.